Bryan Kohberger's doting parents listen in silence to evil confession in front of the families he's ripped apart

Daily Mail​

02-07-2025

's doting parents cut lonely figures inside a courtroom as their only son finally confessed to slaughtering four University of Idaho students in a random stabbing spree that sent shockwaves all across the nation.
For more than two-and-a-half years, the 30-year-old criminology PhD student had claimed his innocence and his defense team had used every legal avenue possible to fight the case and save him from death row.
Now finally, inside Ada County Courthouse Wednesday morning, Kohberger admitted to the murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin to save his own life.
In the plea deal - that has divided the families of the victims - Kohberger coldly and matter-of-factly answered guilty to four counts of murder and one count of burglary, sending him to a lifetime behind bars rather than death row.
While their only son showed no emotion or remorse for his actions, his parents' Michael and MaryAnn Kohberger appeared stricken.
The Pennsylvania natives sat close to their son in the courtroom, separated across the other side of the courtroom from the sobbing families of his victims - some of whom have vehemently opposed the plea deal.
Michael appeared somewhat teary and placed a caring arm around his wife at one point as they heard in detail how their child had meticulously planned and executed the murders.
At another point, Michael asked a court officer for some water.
Their son didn't seem to look at or acknowledge his parents in the courtroom - instead staring expressionless at the prosecutor and judge as they laid out his heinous crimes and the fate that awaits him.
While his parents offered a show of support to their son, Kohberger's two older sisters Amanda and Melissa appeared to be notably absent.
Both of his sisters lost their jobs following their brothers' arrest.
And, one of his sisters reportedly had 'suspicions' that their sibling could have been involved in the murders when he returned home for the holidays in December 2022, NBC's Dateline reported in May 2023.
The sister reportedly pointed out Kohberger's proximity to the scene of the murders in Moscow on November 13, 2022 - and had searched his car for clues.
The vehicle - a white Hyundai Elantra - was the focus of a nationwide search at the time, after the killer was seen speeding away from the scene of the murders in the car.
Had the case proceeded to trial, prosecutors also intended to call some of Kohberger's immediate family members to testify against him.
The family has remained largely silent in the more than two years since his arrest and have not been seen at his other court appearances in Idaho.
Kohberger's dad and mom MaryAnn was last seen in court at her son's extradition hearing in early January 2023
On Tuesday, an attorney for the family confirmed that some of the members would be attending the hearing and asked for 'privacy, respect, and responsible judgment.'
'In light of recent developments, the Kohbergers are asking members of the media for privacy, respect, and responsible judgment during this time. We will continue to allow the legal process to unfold with respect to all parties and will not release any comments or take any questions,' the statement read.
'We ask that you respect our wishes during a difficult time for all those affected.'
The jarring statement marks only the second time the family has ever spoken out since his arrest.
Prior to this, the only public comments ever made by the family was a statement released immediately after his arrest where they said they 'care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children', that they were cooperating fully with the investigation and that 'as a family we will love and support our son and brother.'
While Kohberger's defense insisted in recent court hearings that the family still 'loves him and supports him,' the sisters' apparent absence Wednesday could point to a potential rift.
The case has taken its toll on Kohberger's family, a worker inside the gated community in Chestnuthill Township, Pennsylvania, that they call home told Daily Mail on Monday - just hours before the plea deal was announced.
The man, who did not want to be named, said the parents were 'suffering' and that it had visibly impacted Michael's health.
'He just wants to know the truth,' the man told Daily Mail.
There was no answer at the Kohbergers' home that afternoon.
It is unclear if they had already set off for Boise - or when exactly their son told them he was responsible for the murders, and was changing his plea.
The home in the gated community in the heart of the Poconos is the same site from which their son was taken into custody back on November 30, 2022, and charged with the murders.
The criminology PhD student had moved across the country to attend Washington State University in June 2022.
Five months later, he broke into the off-campus student home at 1122 King Road in Moscow and murdered the four victims.
After planning his attack - buying a KaBar knife months before as the murder weapon - Kohberger entered the home through the back sliding door on the second floor.
He went straight up to Mogen's room where he found Mogen and her best friend Goncalves sleeping in the same bed.
He stabbed both of them to death.
On his way back downstairs or on leaving the property, he encountered Kernodle, who was still awake and had just received a DoorDash order.
The killer gave one word answers and offered no emotion or remorse in the hearing
He fatally attacked her with the knife and then also murdered her sleeping boyfriend Chapin.
On his way out of the home, Kohberger passed one of the two surviving roommates.
Prosecutor Bill Thompson choked back tears in court Wednesday as he detailed the victims' final moments.
He told the court that Kohberger intended to kill when he entered the home that night but may have not planned to kill as many people as he did.
'We will not represent that he intended to commit all of the murders that he did that night, but we know that that is what resulted,' he said.
Kohberger stared down the prosecutor without even a glimmer of emotion when faced with his brutal crimes.
To this day, there is no known connection between Kohberger and the victims - and the motive remains a mystery.
While the victims' families were left devastated by the chilling murders - and the community of Moscow reeled - Kohberger finished out his semester at WSU and meticulously scrubbed his apartment in Pullman and his car clean of evidence.
In mid-December 2022, Kohberger's father Michael then flew out to meet his son in Washington and they drove back to the family home together in the same Hyundai Elantra that the killer had used in the commission of his crime.
On the journey, the father and son duo were pulled over by cops twice for traffic stops, with bodycam footage capturing a bewildered, friendly Michael - and suspicious-looking Kohberger.
Ultimately, it was Michael's own DNA that helped lead to his son's downfall.
Through Investigative Genetic Genealogy, the FBI managed to trace DNA found on a brown leather KaBar knife sheath left behind at the scene of the murders to Kohberger.
Officers posing as sanitation workers then collected trash from the Kohberger's family home.
A cue tip came back a match for the father of the killer.
Five days after Christmas, the Kohberger home was raided and he was taken into custody.
At his arraignment, Kohberger refused to speak - and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.
For the last two-and-a-half years, his attorneys tried to claim he was out driving looking at the moon and stars that night.
The defense also tried repeatedly to get the death penalty struck from the case - citing his recent autism diagnosis.
Last week, an 11th-hour bid to delay the trial and present evidence of four alternate suspects was denied, paving the way for the trial to finally get underway in August.
But, in a bombshell move, the defense and prosecution reached a plea deal this week.
Some of the victims' families are outraged at the deal with the father of Goncalves refusing to attend Wednesday's hearing in protest.
Kernodle's aunt Kim Kernodle similarly told TMZ that the family had vehemently opposed the deal when it was suggested by prosecutors - and voiced her confusion given the state had previously told them they had enough for a conviction.
On the other hand, family members of Chapin and Mogen have voiced their support for the deal that would put Kohberger behind bars for life.
Outside court following the hearing, an attorney representing Mogen's mom Karen Laramie and stepdad Scott Laramie said they backed the deal '100 per cent.'
'We now embark on a new path. We turn from tragedy and mourning,' Leander James told reporters.
'We turn from darkness and uncertainty of the legal process to the light of the future. We have closure. We embark on a path of hope and healing. We invite all of those who have mourned with us to join us, and we wish you well.'
Kohberger will return to court for his sentencing hearing on July 23.
The families of the victims will be given the opportunity to deliver impact statements and Kohberger could also speak.